Not only is he a humble fellow, he is also a self-taught designer who only aspires to get better every day. onripus – or as he’s more commonly known as Meisal Subkhan – didn’t have a lot of expectations from the contest; he simply wanted to give it his best shot.

And the best shot it turned out to be. After countless feedback and refinements (over a holiday period, no less!), Meisal delivered the winning design to us, winning us over with a simple and rounded iteration on the logo we’ve come to know and love.

We have to hear more from Meisal on what inspired him and how he came to be a designer.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Meisal (May-sal), screen name onripus. I’m 27 years old, and I’m the youngest of three siblings. My family and I are based in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia – you may know that my town is well known for the Borobudur Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

How did you first get into design? What made you interested in design on the first place?
I started working at 99designs in 2012. I have never had a formal design education or training. I was introduced to the platform by a friend and thought that it was promising how I could pour all my ideas and creativity here.

Aside from making money, I’ve been able to meet fellow designers and clients from all over the world – that was a big selling point for me. Since starting out at 99designs, I just kept teaching myself by learning from others on why specific designs were considered good or bad and how I could improve from there.

So you have never had training in design or studied design in school?
No. I am a self-taught designer. I often ask my friends who are better at this than I am, or I would study other people’s artwork, and from there I can improve my skills. As I mentioned, I always try to compare my designs to other people’s work, just so I have an idea on what’s considered better.

What’s your most memorable project on 99designs?
The logo rebrand contest is the most memorable contest for me, because I could interact directly with the 99designs staff. I really feel like I’m part of the larger 99designs family because of this whole experience. It truly is an honour for me and I cherish it.

What did you think when you first heard about our logo rebrand contest?
I was obviously interested in participating as soon as I heard about it! In my mind, I wanted to give a different spin to the previous logo, without compromising its character. It was challenging, but I gave it my best shot.

From a viewer’s perspective, I think this rebrand is a great idea. I’m all for changes. I believe improvement to the logo, look & feel and the general rules could only result in bigger and better things for 99!

Where did you get your inspiration from when you were designing for the rebrand?
I got the inspiration for my design by figuring out what 99designs means to me. It’s always a three-way relationship between the clients, designers and 99designs. I know that if we needed to communicate with clients, 99designs would be on hand to help.

On the flipside, if clients needed to communicate with us designers, 99designs has always acted as the middle man to smooth things over for us. I know that both sides are always thankful for that, so that nurturing and friendly quality is expressed in the roundedness of the design I created.

What are you interested in other than design?
Other than designing, I love playing volleyball. It helps clear my mind and take me off the desk for a few hours. I think it’s really important for my wellbeing as a designer.

What would you be doing if you weren’t on 99designs?
I honestly don’t know how my life would turn out if I wasn’t on 99designs. Through 99, I’ve been able to connect with people all over the world, learn things I didn’t think I would learn and basically, I wouldn’t be exposed to the things I know now if I was doing something else!

Anything else you’d like to add?

I just have to repeat how much this logo rebrand contest has been a memorable experience for me. Thanks to it, I know I don’t ever want to stop learning and that I can continue to improve.

A big congratulations to Onripus for his winning design! See how his logo comes together with our new brand here.

The author

Sasha is part of the Designer Marketing team, based in Melbourne, Australia. Aside from developing content that helps 99designers to upskill and have fun designing, she also provides support for the Indonesian community. She was born in Indonesia, before moving to Melbourne at the age of 13. When not procrastinating, she likes swimming, writing and cooking.